Building an Architectural Walkthrough Using Unity

Enliven static images and technical drawings with an interactive Unity app Walk around freely, climb stairs, open doors…explore! This is a practical and useful tutorial covering exactly what you need to know to use architectural design in your own projects Learning Export CAD and BIM models into a format that Unity can use Optimize the geometry and import settings for clean and reliable results Adjust the materials to add bump maps and transparent or reflective effects Add a Sun light with shadows and ensure even lighting Improve interior lighting with additional lights Bake the lighting onto the model with Lightmapping Add a character to freely walk around your model Use animations to apply interactive features such as opening doors Build a complete standalone application that can be shared online Gain control over your model with Unity scripts About Translating CAD or BIM models into a real-time application can seem a tiresome ordeal. Luckily, Unity is very accessible for architects with some 3D experience and it makes importing and presenting models a fun task to do. Architectural visualization through Unity will help you analyze designs and make related decisions even before the actual building is built. Starting from 3D models in common architectural software, we will discuss the workflow to load the models into Unity and even incorporate model changes. The building model will be refined, with better materials and lighting, so it looks attractive to the visitor. With a few basic scripts, we add the necessary interactivity and finally export it into an application you can share. This video tutorial shows an efficient and easy approach to apply an architectural 3D model into your project for quick and reliable results. Style and Approach Packt video courses are designed to cover the breadth of the topic in short, hands-on, task-based videos. Each course is divided into short manageable sections, so you can watch the whole thing or jump to the bit you need. The focus is on practical instructions and screencasts showing you how to get the job done. This video tutorial takes an illustrative approach, with attention to how and why you need to do things. Each step leads you to the final walkthrough and, what’s more, the concepts can be applied to other architectural software too. Importing Architectural Models in Unity Introduction and Workflow Overview From SketchUp to Unity From ArchiCAD to Unity (Step 1) From ArchiCAD to Unity (Step 2) Updating Models Improving Performance Navigating an Architectural Model Adding a First-person Controller Preventing Running through Walls Adding a Third-person Controller Loading a Different 3D Character Adding a Mini-map Improving Materials with Shaders and Textures Textured Materials with Bump and Specular Mapping Using a CubeMap for Sky and Clouds Using a Better Glass Shader Procedural Materials Using Substances Cutout Textures Using Alpha Maps Adding Lights and Shadows Lighting Types Adding a Sun with Shadows Interior Lights Using Point and Spot Lights Lightmapping (Preparation) Lightmapping (Calculation) Animating Objects and Lighting Understanding Animation in Unity Creating a Rotating Cube Keyframing an Opening Door Opening and Moving an Elevator Setting Up a SunStudy Animation Scripting to Add Interactivity Creating Your First Script Editing a Script in Monodevelop Triggering the Rotation of GameObject Switching a Material with a Script Adding a GUI to the Material Switcher Expanding the Scripts Hiding and Showing Objects Switching between Cameras Resetting the Player Picking Objects Displaying Object Information Presenting the Final Walkthrough Bringing Everything Together – The Build Settings Building the Result and Play Building for other Platforms – Example iOS Compiling and Running the iOS App Adding a Mobile Controller Some Final Refinements